We’ve covered Jay-Z’s passion for watches a few times here. He’s a tastemaker in every sense of the word: he jumped on Hublot Big Bangs and iced out Pateks, and the rest of the rap world followed. Then he swerved for subtle, sometimes vintage pieces like a Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso or Patek Grand Complication, and everyone followed.
This time though, he’s flaunting a piece that no one else can copy. First, Louis Vuitton menswear designer Virgil Ablog (@virgilabloh) posted a photo of Jay-Z in a bespoke Vuitton suit for the NAACP image awards. Yes, he looked super fresh, but what was on his wrist? Jay is clearly trying to subtly flaunt it, but it was hard to make out on the IG feed.
@virgilabloh
But then, Watchanish came through for us. He posted that Jay-Z was wearing a unique RM056 made of blue sapphire — blue to commemorate Jay-Z’s classic album, The Blueprint. According to Watchanish, he and a few others contributed to the design and marketing of the watch.
@watchanish
The original RM056
The original RM056 is a tourbillon split seconds chronograph in sapphire with Felipe Massa, a Formula 1 driver. The unique piece for Jay-Z looks to stay true to this execution and layout, but with a different colorway. This original RM056 was limited to 5 pieces and priced at $1.65 million. Watchanish cites the price of Jay-Z’s piece at $2.5 million.
Everything about this: the watch, the marketing, the release, was really well executed.